National Assembly passes Election Act (Amendment) Bill 2024

The National Assembly (NA) on Friday passed the amendment in the Election Act, 2017 [The Election (Amendment) Bill, 2024].

The bill was moved by the Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazeer Tarar. The bill had already been passed by the Senate.

While briefing the lawmakers, he said, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had requested to amend Section 232 of the Elections Act, 2017, and to remove the acronym FATA, following the merger of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Earlier on August 6, the National Assembly (NA) Tuesday approved Election Act Amendment Bill 2024.

Read more: ‘Legislation being made to prevent PTI from getting reserved seats’

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kiyani presented the bill in the lower house of the Parliament, proposing amendments to the Elections Act 2017 in order to bar lawmakers from changing their party affiliation at a later stage.

The opposition stated protest against passage of the Election Act Amendment Bill 2024 and torn copies of the agenda of the house.

According to the bill, lawmakers cannot change the party after joining one within three days of winning the election. Furthermore, reserved seats cannot be allotted to a party, that did not win a single seat in the election.